You may have heard that the Amish have been accused of treating puppies poorly in what have been termed “puppy mills“. Amish businesses have thrived in recent years – though there has been some clashing with non-Amish society along the way. “Puppy mills”, Amish construction firms, and woodworking shops have all rubbed people the wrong way at times. “Puppy mills” is the term applied to…
Typhoid fever and bad ‘plumbing’ did this bunch in. David Luthy, Amish convert and historian, explains in his Settlements that Failed that the Amish settlement at Ordway, Colorado started off promisingly enough in 1910. The area had been heavily promoted by a realty company for settlement, and proved attractive enough for some families to move there.  A town named Dayton was meant to arise in…
Genevieve at prariebluestem.blogspot.com has shared some local insight in a piece about the influx of Amish and Mennonites into the Kentucky community where she lives. Kentucky Plain People In Christian County live not only Amish but Old Order Mennonites, who also travel by horse-and-buggy and share many similarities with the Amish. It seems a wide variety of other Mennonite designations are active in the area…
The Nebraska Amish find themselves on the ultraconservative edge of Amish society. “Nebraska” is something of a misnomer, however. This group is found mainly in Mifflin County, Pennsylvani, in the diverse Big Valley region. A second, smaller group is found in northeastern Ohio. The Nebraska tag comes from the origin of the group’s founding bishop, Yost H. Yoder. Today there are a number of subgroups…
Respect to the Amish farrier. His is a tough job. Amish occupations may vary from businesses that cater to non-Amish to those that service the Amish community. The farrier keeps Amish horses running. The typical horse needs a ‘tire change’ about once every 4 to 8 (to 12 in winter) weeks, depending on horse, climate, and season. A typical change of shoes takes about 45…
The Amish often ignore daylight savings time. Tradition and symbolic separation from the world are often cited as reasons why. When attending church in Lancaster in the summer for example, Amish may refer to the 8 o’clock ‘slow time’ church start time, in other words, 9 am on DST. Church begins at the same time, the whole year round, regardless of what the clock says….
Digging back a bit, I managed to pull up a neat story from the Cellar on an Iowa Amish settlement, originally found in the Iowa City Press-Citizen. After buying a tract of farmland, a developer auctioned off the unwanted turkey barn located on the property. After chopping it into four pieces, the local Amish managed to move it by hand to a location one mile…
Those Amish are too darn loud. So say the neighbors. It seems the ‘peaceful people’ in one PA community are getting their share of noise complaints. No public power means the Amish have to find other ways to juice their woodworking equipment. The idyllic calm that many assume defines life in Amish America, is, in reality, often more like a deafening roar. If you’ve ever…
‘Be friendly to all and a burden to no one. Live holy before God; before yourself, moderately; before your neighbors, honestly. Let your life be modest and reserved, your manner courteous, your admonitions friendly, your forgiveness willing, your promises true, your speech wise, and share gladly the bounties you receive.’ Source: Rules of a Godly Life, cited in Amish Roots, John A. Hostetler
A link (no longer online) to some nice photos of Anabaptist-related peoples in South America, by Jordi Busque. Jordi says that the family in An Amish family in the jungle moved to Bolivia from Tennessee in the mid-1990’s. Apparently they identify themselves as Amish. Jordi adds that there is another family like them, about an hour’s walk away. Is this family in fellowship with any…